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Lockhart on verge of making history

Scotland Women prop Heather Lockhart is on the verge of making history this weekend as Scotland take on Italy at Broadwood on Friday (March 17, kick-off 6.20pm) – live on Scottish Rugby TV.

Lockhart equaled the record for most appearances in the Women’s Six Nations (58) against England last weekend. Should she come off the bench on Friday, she will surpass the record held by former Ireland player Fiona Coghlan.

She kicked off the Championship sitting fourth on the most appearances list behind Ireland’s Coghlan (58) and Lynne Cantwell (57) and Wales' Jenny Davies (55).

But the prospect of entering the record books following an international career spanning 12 years isn’t the focus for Lockhart. Instead, she is treating the game against Italy no different to any other.

“It doesn’t change anything for me. We’ve just been focusing on the team effort.

“It’s a rugby match and it’s about being part of the team so we will be doing our analysis and preparation in exactly the same way.

“I just take each game as it comes and I’m just enjoying it. I mean this sincerely, it’s a privilege to play any game for Scotland.”

The loosehead, who is a tennis and hockey coach, believes the Scots can bounce back at Broadwood from last weekend’s defeat at Twickenham Stoop against England.

“We showed our character to come back from the France loss to beat Wales and I think we can learn from the defeat to England in the same way,” she said.

“I think the learning points were there and there are things that can be fixed so we can turn it around and put in a performance we can be proud of.”

Lockhart made her Scotland debut in November 2004 against USA and has amassed 88 caps since. She made her Six Nations debut in 2005 against France and has featured in every Six Nations match for Scotland since 2007.

Her experience, particularly in scrummaging, has been valuable to the current squad which includes several young talents making their foray onto the international stage as Scotland focus on closing the gap with other nations.

“When you’ve got a blend of experience and youth everyone has something to offer. At the end of the day when you go onto the pitch you are all supporting each other.

“The new players coming through are really exciting and I’m looking forward to watching how their careers progress particularly as the sport grows and more opportunities arise in both 15s and 7s.

“It’s also great to see the likes of the BT Sport Academy bringing them through.”

Lockhart came off the bench in Scotland’s 15-14 triumph over Wales last month – Scotland’s first win in the Championship since 2010 – and was the only player in the side to have tasted victory in the Six Nations when Scotland beat France seven years ago.

“When we beat Wales, it was just sheer joy – we have won other matches outside of the Six Nations but this was fantastic,” she said.